Planting of vegetation in rough terrain has long been a difficult and tedious process. In fact, most planting done on steep embankments or rocky terrain has been accomplished by hand, because mechanized planters are often not capable of negotiating the terrain. Further, bulky planting machinery can damage the surrounding area and seriously compromise the surrounding habitat.
Hand planting in steep, rocky, or otherwise rough terrain is often not successful because the conditions do not permit the planter to dig deep enough to secure the plants. Also riparian areas are typically difficult to plant because the plant stock cannot be secured deeply in the embankment to prevent high water from washing the plants away.
Re-planting vegetation along riparian ways that have been denuded by flooding is ecologically desirable, not only to bolster the shorelines against erosion, but also to re-establish fish and wildlife habitat. Still, it is difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible to successfully plant such areas. Shallow rooted whips of willow, cottonwood and the like are easily washed away at high water, or become easy forage for beaver and deer, so strenuous hand planting operations in such areas do not often result in an acceptable percentage of surviving plants.
Even flat fertile areas can be difficult to re-plant. For example, closely spaced stumps in clear cut areas will often prevent the use of mechanized planting, so expensive hand planting is often the only process available. Further, the ground may be bound with roots, rocks, or hard soil, frustrating hand planting processes.
Another problem faced in mechanized and hand planting operations, is that planting dibbles, shovels, picks and the like will often leave a hole with a packed wall caused by the tool wedging into the soil. This "shear wall" will hamper proper dispersal of roots and often results in poor or unsuccessful growth.
A present and growing need is therefor realized for a mechanized planter that will reduce, if not eliminate, the need for hand planting in difficult areas. There is also a need for a mechanized planter that will function to plant at a much greater depth than has yet been feasible in hand or mechanized planting operations, without creating the "shear wall" effect.
As a solution to the above problems, the present invention has for a first objective to provide a mechanized stinger planter that can be attached to a boom for remote operation, so difficult terrain can be planted from adjacent accessible areas.
A further objective is to provide such a planter that may be used for deep planting operations for planting whips and root crop to avoid wash out and damage from animals.
A still further objective is to provide such a planter that will operate to minimize or eliminate "shear wall" packing in planting holes and that will allow loose soil backfill to fill the openings produced by the probes and thereby promote healthy plant growth.
The above and still further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description which, taken with the accompanying drawings, disclose the best presently known mode of carrying out the present invention.